The Best Super Bowl Snack is also Keto Friendly

To me and my friends and family, sausage balls win the [big bowl game] snack-off hands down!

This year, Superbowl Sunday will be very different, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t still indulge in your favorite hot cheesy snacks and adult beverage.  And, if you are like me, you don’t even have to care that much about the game to make it a party. 

Southern sausage balls is my #1 choice for Super Bowl snacking.  They are hot, savory, salty and full of protein so they are the perfect pairing for the beer that typically flows on Super Bowl Sunday.  The simplest southern sausage ball recipe is three ingredients, bulk hot breakfast sausage, cheddar cheese and Bisquick.  They are so simple that even someone who can’t boil water can make them.  All you need is a bowl and a fork (or clean hands!) to mix everything together and a lined cookie sheet to bake them on. 

These sausage balls are so good that they typically are the first to go any time I make them. So, I didn’t think that they could be improved.  But I was wrong.  My friend Matt is a fellow North Carolinian, and fellow lover of sausage balls.  When he decided to go Keto this year, he discovered a Keto sausage ball recipe and adapted it to his own taste. I saw him recently and we made them together—in a socially distanced kitchen.

I was skeptical to say the least. But he also brought a cooler full of North Carolina’s Neese’s sausage which is coveted by those of us who have moved away from our home state. Matt swore that the Keto-friendly recipe was even better than the original, so I was game to try it.

The recipe still uses bulk breakfast sausage, so how bad can they be? It also uses Parmesan cheese in addition to the original cheddar which gives it more cheesy flavor, an egg and almond flour binds the mixture.  I don’t know if it is the addition of the Parmesan cheese or the neutral almond flour, but whatever it is, this recipe really is better.  You taste more of the sausage and the cheese.  There is no doughy quality at all.  If you are following a Keto lifestyle, they can be a snack, a meal or your breakfast meat.  

And, even better, you can bake them and reheat them without losing any quality issues.  But be forewarned, they are addictive and if you roll them into small balls like Matt does, you end up tossing them into your mouth like popcorn. 

Matt’s Keto-Friendly Sausage Balls

Avoid the temptation to use pre-grated cheese. That cheese is treated with an additive so it won’t clump together and it prevents the cheese from melting in the same way as cheese you grate by hand.

1          pound bulk sage breakfast sausage, preferably Neese’s

1          large egg, beaten

2          teaspoons baking soda

1          cup whole skin-on almond flour, not blanched almond flour

8          ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated by hand

1/3      cup grated Parmesan cheese

Special Equipment: Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350° F

Place sausage in a bowl and break up with a fork. Add egg and baking soda and mix to combine.  Sprinkle almond flour over mixture and mix.  Repeat with the grated cheeses and mix well with a blending fork or your hands. 

Wash hands and dry them.  Using your hands, pinch and roll sausage mixture into small or medium size balls, whatever size you like best.

Place a sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat on a sheet pan and place the sausage balls on a sheet pan leaving a little room between the balls.  They won’t expand much, but a lot of fat will cook out, so you need the room for the fat to drain and that is the other reason that you need the parchment paper or Silpat. It will be a big mess if you don’t line your sheet pan. Note: This version drains more fat than the original, maybe because there is no flour in the mixture to absorb it.

Bake for 16-20 minutes or until the cheddar cheese is golden brown, and the sausage is cooked all the way through.  The smaller the balls, the less time they will take to cook and vice versa.

Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Any extras can be cooled completely and stored in the freezer in a heavy-duty re-closeable freezer bag so you can re-heat them by the piece (or handful) in the microwave. To re-heat: place on a paper towel set in a plate and microwave for 20 seconds.  If that isn’t long enough, microwave for 10-20 seconds a second time. It’s better to reheat in short intervals than re-heat once for the total cooking time.